Brian Wise

Good work Muleball. There are scuds in the river for sure, and every once in a while we'll throw an olive scud...can't say it surprises me you caught a pretty nice fish on a grey one though. Let us know how you do this weekend. I'll be chasing the smallmouth on the Bryant. Brian

Webfreeman, I guess it could be a "touch" faster but the big thing is my fisherman can stand up and fish in-between stops. With the Predators they hardly did any fishing during the times we were moving downstream to the next riffle--now they can a whole lot easier. BrianK, Yes, the first trip is booked and there is a slight chance there will be some photos at the Falls. ;-) Brian

Thanks guys. To be dead honest it is a big toy, but a big toy that is going to help me out a ton! I have been rowing an Old Town Predator (Big 3 man canoe) for the last 2 or 3 season and man are they work, crowded, no storage, no where for anything and barely enough room for some of my fisherman. In relation the Clacka barely weighs more than the Predator, the predator weighing in at 150 lbs and the Clacka at 260 lbs. The difference in rowing is going to be considerably easier too...which I know doesn't make sense but it's a water displacement thing. It floats just as high as the Predator. The comfort of my fisherman along with safety is going to be the highest points. And yes, my wife LOVES it...thank God! Brian

Here it is. When I was looking for a boat I was actually looking forward to putting the big Loomis Logos on the boat I bought....this one already had them! Brian

Yeah, floating on semi-high water I'll have to be sure to put in below McKee and take out above Patrick...which is pretty much my main floats anyway. Lilley, We used to have to portage over Blair bridge (most of the time) before the county put in the big bridge in 2000 I think. Smooth sailing, err rowing I guess, now. It is a 16' Clacka Low Pro. Brian

Hey all, Just wanted to let you know I finally bought a drift boat. 99% of my guide trips will be drifting now....THANK GOD! Brian

Journeyman, The time you are talking about coming down is usually a great time to be fishing. Actually I really enjoy the whole month of October, mostly for the colors....they are crazy gorgeous, but the fishing is usually really good as well. Brownieman is right on the money as far as big fish go. The browns are moving a lot more that time of year as they "go through the motions" they can be caught a whole lot easier then when they are just hanging in the pools all day. I am booking a lot of trips for September/October and will be posting reports with most of the trips so keep an eye out and I'll help you any way I can. Brian

I tie them bead-head or glass-bead 10-1. Nymphing them into a nice swing, works great. Brian

Westover is a really cool pay to play place. I was there in Feb with snow on and we had a blast! We threw a lot of micro eggs, Copper Johns, and even some midges. The fish readily took dries above the "garden" and I have wondered all summer if they would just HAMMER a hopper up there this time of year. Brian

Hey Morgan, The trip with the 417 writers and photographer was awesome. They were 3 women that had pretty much never touched a fly rod, by the end of the day they were doing really well....and it was a half-day trip! Women are so easy to teach though. A Gitzit is pretty much a tube, no real difference between them and your regular tubes. You can use soft plastics above the Spring so on your float (Twin Bridges to Hammond) you will be totally good to go with soft plastics. As far as water I would concentrate on, the water that looks good up there is pretty much the water I would hit hard. I know that is a little vague but it can be pretty skinny up there and you just have to see it to know what I'm talking about, just hit anything that looks fishy and you should have a good time. Those small craw cranks are my favorite sub-surface lure for smallies, there is no doubt when they take one of them Brownieman, I know a lot of people that run limb lines on the Bryant. We don't hear about near as many really big cats being caught on them as we used though.

He all, A buddy and I are thinking about drifting the Niangua this fall. Just wondering what floats would work best for the drift boat and what levels we should look at if any for the drifter. Any other info much appreciated...including but not limited to fly selection and where the big fish hang out. Brian

That water is floatable, I'm not saying you won't have to drag, but it is floatable. That is some of the most fun smallie fishing I have ever done up that way, super clear water sight fishing to them. Make sure to bring some gitzits.... Brian

Hey Rodney, I have pretty much 2 typical set ups for the river, a nymphing rig and the other being a swinging/streamer set up. The nymphing rig is set up with a dropper 95% of the time. The lead fly being a stone (be it black, brown, or golden) and a different nymph as a dropper. The droppers vary depending on what bugs are the most prevalent, or just a fly that has been hot for a little while. Here is a list of my main droppers (in no specific order ) Prince Nymphs #16-12 Hare's Ears #16-12 Pheasant Tails #16-12 Copper Johns (Red, Chartreuse, Dark Green, Copper, and Black) #18-14 Red Fox Squirrel Nymphs #12-14 Micro-Mays #20-16 San Juan Worms As for the streamers, I pretty much only use 2 unless I am night fishing and they are Slumpbusters and Mohairs. For wets and soft hackles pretty much any of them are as good as the rest. Wets take on a different approach depending on what bugs are moving but the Soft Hackles I have just gone to about 2 or 3 different styles. Yes, fish deep. If you are going to use an indicator use one that you can move easily. I can't really say only fish at 1 1/2 times the depth of the water, there are circumstances where that isn't the preferred way to fish certain spots but that is a pretty good starting point. Since you will be down when it is pretty hot stay in the riffles and the tailouts, look for good, deep tailouts and dropoffs in the riffles....the fish need that oxygen. Hope this helps. Brian

Had a half-day trip with a couple of high school football players (lineman ) both pretty much first time fly fisherman. It had to be funny seeing the Old Towne Predator floating by with me in the middle rowing those 2 guys.( Insert exteme sweating emoticon here) To boot we started off the day with a nice row upstream about 1/4 mile to Lamb Shoal. One of the guys I was told was just "fishy" and he smacked 2 within his first 10 casts, both 'bows and both probably around 12". Missed several, several more hits at Lamb on a Slumpbuster before we moved on. Rolled a couple at McKee bridge but lost them due to the "IHAVEAFISHWHATDOIDO" period of one of them hooking their first fish in FAST water. Hensley treated us well, but Rainbow Alley didn't even produce a look....told them to go back there that evening. All in all for an August day of 97 degrees the bite was pretty good and the boat traffic is slowing down pretty good now. A month from now there will be very little floating going on...right when fishing should be picking up Brian

For some reason I couldn't reply to the original message... My niece made it through surgery just fine and was just starting to show improvement when the test results came back positive for Cystic Fibrosis. She is doing fine though improving all the time, alive and beautiful...just pretty hard for her parents right now. Please keep them in your prayers, they are going to need years of it. Brian

Bob A, Yeah, it is for sure pricey. I had some fisherman drive 8+ hours to fish the NFOW with me and the river ended up blown out. The White & Norfork were both running water so I threw out Rockbridge as an option and I think then it was $75.00 for a day of c&r for each person. Don't get me wrong it was great for teaching as the fish are fairly easy to catch. I do think it would be pretty good for kids but to be honest Dry Run Creek is only about an hour and a half away and it is free...2 kids for a day of c&r $150 compared to gas money to drive to Dry Run, hmmm Brian

There is no access outside of paying to fish at Rockbridge. They do offer c&r days for a fee as well. Brian

Hey guys, Floated with a family of 4 that had never touched a fly rod before. Started at ROLF, floated to Blair. As this was more of an instructional trip I'll just have to tell you where and what fly I had to tell them to "set the hook, SET the hook, SET THE HOOK" on. On this trip I had the pleasure of guiding with Mike Butler from around Jeff City, MO. He is the president of the Missouri Deaf Fly Fishers and some of you may have seen him tying at the Sowbug or Conclave....AWESOME guy! The activity didn't really start until "Old House" where the father hooked up and the youngest son (11) missed 5 fish, those fish hit after I threw a chart. Copper John under the DSB Stone (one of Mike's creations.) To be honest our goal was to get the youngest son to catch at least "a" fish, that finally happened at the Rock Garden where he caught probably an 11" 'bow. The next stop was at the Corner above Blair and the mom caught a really fiesty 15" 'bow. Chart. Copper John DSB Stonefly Golden Stone Beez's Flash Back PT Brian

Hi all, My 2 day old niece is in the NICU at St. Johns. It appears she has an obstruction in her intestine and she is going into surgery this afternoon (8-1) Please pray for her... Brian

Hey all, Just thought I would let you know that the article in 417 Magazine about ROLF hit newsstands today. You at least have to see the cover, (no it is not a photo of anything to do with ROLF) there is a "sunburst" toward the bottom left and the wording in it totally made me blush.... Brian

Cody, Cool question man! I have given a bunch of "tips" but never had this question thrown at me. Honestly, I would have to say the one thing that would improve your odds on the NFOW is to take your time and fish every inch of every run you decide to fish. For a lot of people that is really hard to do but an analogy I use with my fisherman is to pretend your fly (whatever it may be) is a paint brush and you want to paint the entire river. Also if you are nymphing you can literally throw the same cast several times in a row and the fly is not going to act the same everytime, so if you move through too quickly you are just passing fish. Hope this helps! Brian

Water is back down to what else but...low. The flash of high water did however flush the river pretty well, it would have been better if we could have gotten that flash a month later but I won't complain. The wet fly bite in skinnier water has picked up tremendously after the flush. This skinnier water is the water you usually walk through on your way to nymph the "good" water at the islands Of course nymphing is picking up fish but the water is crazy clear go long with your leaders and go a touch lighter too. A size smaller fly has been working lately, the usuals, Stones, Copper Johns, RFSN's but throw in some Micro-Mays now. Not going to do much good to report that the Tricos are going crazy most every morning....no risers. Get out early swinging wets or soft hackles to get into the fish that are after the Trico's before you "see" the Tricos. Fishing has been fairly stellar but we are earning every fish....so it goes for summer time fishing. Brian

I have to put another vote in for Simms, best waders you can buy.... Their breatheability is insane, I wore the G3's (which are fairly heavy) to a little spring creek last week and was dry as a bone after fishing. Brian

Growler, Being this far away from the time you are coming down I would hate to "guess" so I'll give you the patterns I would not go to the river any time of year without: Black Stone #8-12 Golden Stone #10-14 Prince Nymphs #10-18 (pretty broad range of sizes but for sure have some) Hare's Ears #12-16 (also flash-back) Pheasant Tails #12-16(also flash back) Red Fox Squirrel Nymph #10-14 Crackleback #12-16 Bead-Head Crackleback #12-16 Soft Hackles Woolies Various Wet Flies Brian

I can second Greg's Peak. I have to say it is the most solid rotary I have seen. None of the little "spindley" arms or anything like that....it's Manly(I wish there was an emoticon with flexing muscles... ) Brian